Queen of Ashes
by Angel-Jade666
Summary: So Skulduggery's off with the Faceless Ones, God only knows where his skull is, and finding it is next to impossible-but that's hardly enough to stop Valkyrie and the rest of the usual gang from trying. Rated T to be on the safe side. Reviews are loved!XD
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: **Ok, this is set after The Faceless Ones, mostly because Dark Days hasn't been published over here (in Ireland) yet. If you've read Dark Days, please don't put any spoilers in your reviews (at least, not until the 2nd or 3rd of April) and also I'd like to point out that any similarities between this and Dark Days are entirely coincidental- and I've almost finished typing this up on my computer, so even when I've read the book, the similarities will still be coincidental.

**Disclaimer: **Truth be told, there isn't actually very much in the Prologue for me to disclaim.....but if you recognise it, I don't own it. If you don't recognise it, I quite possibly still don't own it. If it makes no sense, I own it.

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**Prologue**

_The small flame flickered dully in her hand, forever on the verge of going out. The light was pure darkness, the flames ice cold. It could not be compared to the flames she had been able to make when _he_ was around, but so very much had changed since then._

_The light the flame produced was barely enough to light her way, and it took so much energy that it was barely worth it. But she had to keep practising. She was determined to retain her Elemental powers despite the fact that she was now a Necromancer._

_Finally she reached the clearing. She gave up on the flame as a bad job and walked towards a much bigger, brighter light. She took her place among the others and waited for everything to begin._

_This was it. They were coming._

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**Author's Note (again):** I know it's short. It's the prologue. But that's not what I want to talk about here- this is for any readers of my other fic, Maximum Ride: Clone Confusion, - I am going to get back to it, at some stage. And I'll finish it. Promise.

TTYL,  
A.J.


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** So, yeah, I totally get why so few people (i.e. one person) reviewed the prologue- it did after all amount to about three lines. Or so. Anyway, once you've gotten this far it's a helluva lot better, IMHO. The prologue doesn't really have anything to do with the story, after all....and for all you disclaimer-loving people, see the last chapter. Also, mega-big thanks (again) to _YayForMagicDetectivesAndStuff_ for the review!

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**Chapter 1.**

***About a week earlier**

Generally speaking, it is never a good idea for an unaccompanied teenage girl to be hanging around Dublin city centre late at night. But Valkyrie Cain could hardly be called general and it wasn't as though she was actually in any danger- she was the only person in a park that had been locked up hours ago.

She walked along the path, a tiny half-hearted flame in her hand which provided more light than any of the streetlights' orange glow which wafted through the trees around her. She'd gotten the bus into the city hours ago- something she hadn't had to do for years- to meet Solomon Wreath. She hadn't told anyone about her agreeing to become a Necromancer yet, but she knew she would have to eventually. Wreath had explained to her that the better she became at Necromancy, the worse she would become at Elemental magic, until, eventually, she could no longer do it at all.

She had long ago lost track of the time, but she was certain that it was well past midnight- the last LUAS left at midnight, and she hadn't heard its trademark bell-like sound for hours. St. Stephen's Green was an ideal place to think, and more importantly, to be alone at this time anyway, whatever time it was.

She was desperately trying to work out where the hell Skulduggery's head was, and was coming up with a solid blank. Skulduggery had too many enemies to try and work out which one had taken his head, and there was also the slight possibility that a complete randomer had taken it. In which case they were screwed.

She continued roaming the park until long after the last shouts of drunken passersby. She was so used to surviving on the bare minimum of sleep by now that she didn't feel tired at all, despite the fact that it had to be about four or five in the morning, and she hadn't had a proper night's sleep in _forever_. She did eventually crash on one of the park benches, but it was almost sunrise by then, and the thick, grey light woke her up before she'd slept an hour.

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"Where were you last night?" Fletcher greeted her the following morning, after teleporting into her bedroom uninvited.

"Where do you think?" Valkyrie scowled at the uninvited visitor, wishing he was still as attached to Tanith as he had been when he'd first met her.

"I came here to check, 'cause you weren't answering my texts-"

"I _never_ answer your texts."

"And your reflection told me that you weren't in."

"That was _me_ you idiot!" Valkyrie lied. "I was trying to get rid of you!"

"Why would anyone want to get rid of _me_?"

"Why would anyone _not_ want to get rid of you?"

"Which brings me back to my original question, of where the hell were you last night?" Fletcher said, pretending he hadn't heard Valkyrie's last comment. She scowled at him, and sat down on her bed.

"Here."

Fletcher raised his eyebrows disbelievingly. He could be incredibly intelligent when he wanted to. Actually no, it was probably just a lucky guess.

"Well then why did you say that you were your reflection and that the _real_ you had gone to town?"

"I've already told you that!" Valkyrie exclaimed, her voice heavy with frustration. "I was trying to make you _go away_."

"You know I'm never going to believe that. You enjoy my company _way_ too much."

"You're getting very like Skulduggery." Valkyrie commented, trying to ignore the guilty twist in her gut as she mentioned Skulduggery's name- they should have been closer to rescuing him by now.

"Tanith agrees with me." Ah. She should have known that Tanith would crop up in this conversation. Fletcher didn't seem to obsess about her as much as he had originally, but he did still hero-worship her.

"On which point?"

"That you went out somewhere last night without telling either of us."

"Is it really such a crime to have a social life?" Valkyrie asked, but she was grasping at straws now. Fletcher looked at her blankly.

"But you don't _have_ a social life."

Valkyrie scowled at him.

"And you _do_? Besides, for your information, I actually do. I'm going shopping with Jessica and Sinéad after school today." Valkyrie didn't bother pointing out that it was actually her reflection who would be going shopping with them, or that she hadn't spoken to Jessica in person since primary school, or that she'd never actually met Sinéad, who had only moved to Haggard a couple of months ago.

"Who the hell are Jessica and Sinéad?" Fletcher was looking more confused by the second. It was really quite amusing.

"They're my friends. They're in my class at school. We're going to get outfits for the disco we're going to at the start of the Easter break." She smiled as though the thought enthused her, trying to ignore Fletcher's sceptical expression.

"_You're_ going to a disco?" Fletcher's voice was insultingly disbelieving and Valkyrie was beginning to get seriously annoyed. Just because her going to a disco seemed unimaginably odd, that didn't mean she wouldn't go. Or rather that her_ reflection_ wouldn't go. For someone with no emotions, the reflection was remarkably determined.

"Sure I am. It's called _Kicks_. Now will you please go away? I need sleep."

"I still think you were up to something last night."

"I _really_ don't care."

"Anyway," Fletcher said, grabbing her hand and pulling her upright, "we've got to be getting on." And before Valkyrie had even opened her mouth to ask exactly _what_ they had to be getting on _to_, they teleported.

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So, y'know reviews are always nice (hint, hint). Especially y'know, if you would like to make an appearence at any point in this fic (I can work people into the plot waay later on, or kinda soonish of they don't mind being dead)...And also, because I am absoloutely DYING to know- do any shippings become cannon in Dark Days? (It won't change this fic, but...well, I _am_ dying(not litteraly, though like))

Thank Ye Very Glad,  
A.J.


	3. Chapter 2

And here we go again...you know, around about now, I'd really love a few reviews...it would make writing all this seem so much more worthwhile....but I know this is a tiny fandom, so I'll try not complain too much...and whilst we're on the topic of not complaining- mega big thanks to _YayForMagicDetictivesAndStuff_ and _x_Wave_x_ for their lovely reviews!

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**Chapter 2.**

Valkyrie was not wholly surprised to find herself in China's library. What she _did_ find surprising was that Fletcher had had the initiative to bring her there.

"What took you so long?" Tanith said, coming to greet them from behind a monstrously tall bookshelf. Suddenly Fletcher taking her to the library wasn't such a mystery.

"Hi Tanith!" Valkyrie grinned and moved forward to hug Tanith. "We would've been here sooner, but Fletcher didn't tell me we were going anywhere." Tanith raised an eyebrow.

"Then what took you so long?"

"I was trying to make her tell me where she was last night." Fletcher said, saving Valkyrie from answering.

"And did she?" Tanith asked, looking directly at Valkyrie.

"No." Fletcher mumbled despondently.

"Surprise, surprise." Tanith muttered under her breath. Valkyrie felt what was by now a familiar twist of guilt in her gut. She knew that Tanith, along with almost everyone else, strongly disapproved the art of Necromancy, and distrusted Necromancers in general. She was really dreading the moment when she would have to tell her.

"Any new leads?" She asked, following Tanith through the labyrinth of bookcases. Tanith shook her head.

"I was actually hoping China might be able to tell us something." Valkyrie raised her eyebrows.

"She hasn't yet. And she said that if she _did _hear anything she'd tell us immediately."

"True. But this is _China_ we're talking about. You can never be sure with her. Besides, she promised to lend me her old picture album." Tanith said cheerily. "I'll just have to go find Ghastly and ask him who everyone is."

"Will that help?" Valkyrie asked sceptically, "Besides, if she decides that doesn't want to tell us, then our being here to ask her for news won't change anything, will it?" Tanith smiled slightly.

"Anyone will give in eventually if you pester them for long enough." She paused for a moment before speaking again. "Actually there's something I've been meaning to ask you." Tanith chewed her lip, as though unsure how to phrase her question.

"What?" Valkyrie asked, barely caring what it was as she was so preoccupied with wondering where Skulduggery's head might be.

"Well…you know how you where saying that Wreath told you to look for Skulduggery's head, and that it's an Isthmus Anchor and all? Well, how do you know we can trust him? And what did he want? He didn't particularly like Skulduggery from what I've heard, so why did he want to help him? Why would he give you a valuable piece of information like that for nothing?" Valkyrie could tell that this was something Tanith had been wondering about for a while, and realised that this was a gift-wrapped opportunity to tell Tanith about her decision to become a Necromancer, but something made her hold back.

"I don't know." She said, dismissing the subject to the best of her ability.

"It's just…weird, don't you think?" Tanith said unaware of Valkyrie's reluctance on the subject. "Nobody does anything for nothing. Especially not a Necromancer." Tanith's nose wrinkled in distaste and Valkyrie shrugged vaguely.

"I _really_ don't know."

She was relieved when they turned a corner and were suddenly faced with China, who was examining a well-worn book that had seen better days on her desk. Fletcher was standing in front of her, staring at the beautiful woman adoringly. Valkyrie and Tanith rolled their eyes simultaneously, and the subject was dropped.

"Have you managed to discover anything about Skulduggery's head yet?" Tanith asked, walking up to the desk with Valkyrie on her heels. China glanced up at them briefly before returning her attention to the book before her. She tucked something into the front of it, and then she turned to a page in the middle where she started trying to remove something that looked a bit like a coffee stain.

"This book…" she said once she had managed to remove the stain with several complex symbols, "is probably priceless. I don't want anyone touching it." She closed the book, which looked vaguely familiar to Valkyrie and put it on a shelf directly behind her. Then she turned to the three people crowded around her desk. "Here's that picture album I promised you Tanith." She said holding out a faded green leather album. "And no. I haven't heard anything new about either Skulduggery or his head. And I'm sure that I've already told you that if I _do _happen to hear something I'll inform you of it as soon as possible."

"We just wanted to check," Valkyrie said, "in case you'd forgotten or something." China paused for several seconds without saying anything.

"Something like what? _Betraying_ you?" Valkyrie felt her face redden.

"N-no." She stuttered. "Nothing like that." China didn't give any indication that she'd heard Valkyrie's words- she just continued to stare at her in a most peculiar way. It seemed an age before she spoke again.

"Because I really think you'd be the last person who could accuse someone of betrayal, don't you?" Valkyrie's face flushed further, though with anger at the accusation or shame at the supposed betrayal, it was impossible for the others to tell.

"What do you mean? I haven't betrayed anyone!" Valkyrie exclaimed, while Tanith and Fletcher looked on in sheer bewilderment.

"Oh really?" China asked, raising a carefully shaped eyebrow. "Only, I'd heard that the moment Skulduggery was out of the picture you_ immediately_ jumped on the chance to change your discipline of magic. And become a _Necromancer_."

Tanith's mouth fell open. Fletcher looked confused.

"I-I…it wasn't _anything_ like that!" Valkyrie said, shrinking away from the look of horror that now adorned Tanith's face. She wished now that she'd told the others about her choice to become a Necromancer back when she'd first been faced with the decision. But as she knew only too well by now, wishing never got anyone anywhere.

"Oh? In what way?" China smiled slightly, giving every impression that she was thoroughly enjoying herself. Valkyrie was too flustered to wonder why China was doing this, or if she really believed that Valkyrie was a traitor.

"Wreath said that the only way I'd be powerful enough to help save Skulduggery from the Faceless Ones would be if I became a Necromancer." She said hesitantly, certain that China, at least, would not believe her. "He said that if I became a Necromancer then he'd help me find Skulduggery's head. I wasn't _betraying_ anyone." China raised her eyebrows disbelievingly. Tanith seemed to still be in a state of shock from hearing that Valkyrie was a planning to become Necromancer. Fletcher looked confused.

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So, y'know cookies to all who review, and hugs, because tomorrow's 'Hug Everybody Day'. Or so I've been told.

A.J.


	4. Chapter 3

Hi all! And so, here we have chapter 3; and I be sorry for yesterday's lack of updates. If anyone would happen to ever want updates faster- more reviews=more updates. Just saying, like. And a huge big thank you to _LythiaHarpen_ for the lovely review!

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**Chapter 3.**

It hurtled along at over a hundred miles per hour, slicing through the air as it sped by. The hit had been a good one- the sliotar landed squarely in the goal. Valkyrie smiled as she reached forward slightly, pulling the sliotar back through the air towards her.

It was a long time since she'd last played camogie, but she found that she was better at it now than ever. She tossed the ball in the air again and gave it another forceful hit, venting her frustration.

"Nice." Valkyrie jumped and whirled around, startled by the unexpected voice- she hadn't heard anyone approaching. She saw Fletcher standing before her, his hands in his pockets, his hair ridiculous and a huge smile plastered on his face. She rolled her eyes.

"Hey." She turned back around and pulled the sliotar back to her, wondering vaguely how she was going to play one-person camogie games when she became a Necromancer.

"I didn't know you played hurling." Fletcher said. He seemed determined to have a conversation with her, despite her lack of interest.

"I don't." Valkyrie replied shortly, hitting the sliotar as hard as she could. Fletcher frowned.

"Then how are you so good at it? He asked.

"I'm not." She hit the sliotar again, a solid, powerful and thoroughly brilliant hit. Fletcher frowned.

"I know I don't know much about hurling," He said turning her to face him, "but I can tell that you're really good."

"I've never played hurling in my life" She said scowling, "so how the hell would you know?" She tossed the sliotar onto the end of her stick and began bouncing it up and down absentmindedly.

"You're playing it now." Fletcher said, seeming to think that Valkyrie was just acting really stupid.

"No I'm not." She bounced the ball a bit higher and gave it a good, solid hit towards Fletcher.

"Oi!" He said, telelporting out of the line of fire, "Watch where you hit that thing!"

"It's a sliotar" Valkyrie said dragging it towards her, "not a _thing_"

"Sli-ther? What?"

"It's Irish."

"What does it mean?"

"Sliotar." Valkyrie started bouncing the aforementioned on her hurl again. "There isn't an English translation for it."

"You couldn't just call it a ball?" Fletcher said, teleporting out of the sliotar's path once again.

"No." Valkyrie turned around and aimed it for the goal again.

"Ok." Fletcher said after several minutes, "I give up. What are you playing?"

"It's camogie." Valkyrie said, tossing the ball into the air and preparing to hit it again.

"Camogie?" Fletcher said, sounding slightly more confused than usual.

"Let me guess- you've never heard of camogie, right?"

"I have heard of it, actually."

"Oh yeah? When?"

"Just now, when you mentioned it." Fletcher grinned at her. Valkyrie rolled her eyes.

"It's exactly like hurling," she said, "except girls play it, not guys."

"Hey! I _guessed_ hurling."

"But it's _not_ hurling. It's camogie."

"Sounds the same to me."

"Well it's_ not_." She pulled the sliotar across the pitch towards her before continuing. "Besides I doubt you bothered teleporting all the way over here to discuss a sport you've never heard of, so what do you want?"

At this Fletcher reddened slightly and looked at his feet.

"Well…I mean…I just wanted to say that…I don't think you did betray us Valkyrie, and I wanted you to know that." Fletcher reached up as though to make sure his hair was still ridiculous. Valkyrie raised her eyebrows.

"What does it matter? So long as Tanith's convinced I betrayed you all I'm stuck. Your opinion doesn't count for anything."

"Hey!" Fletcher said, looking offended, "I'm here, doing my best to convince Tanith that you didn't do anything wrong, and that there's nothing wrong with Necromancers and that's what you come out with?"

"But Fletcher," Valkyrie said, turning to give him her full attention for the first time that day, "I _did_ do something wrong. I should've told you all what Wreath had said to me and that I was thinking of taking him up on his offer right from the start. And Tanith would know a lot more about Necromancers than you. You've got to remember- all these prejudices people have- well sometimes they're there for a reason." Valkyrie hadn't meant to say that much, and she didn't really believe that prejudices were there for a reason- she was just worried. She'd seen the way Wreath took pleasure from the taste of death in the air around him, and she was terrified that she'd end up like that.

"Don't be stupid Val," Fletcher said earnestly, "there's no such thing as a sensible prejudice, and you know that." Valkyrie nodded, not trusting her voice to speak. "Like really, people don't like Teleporters either, and that's totally illogical. I mean seriously, have you ever met anyone awesomer than me?" Valkyrie gave a brief watery smile, and looked away.

"It's just…I don't want to end up…like…you know how those Necromancers act when they walk into a room that someone's died in? They love it! They love _death_…its horrible! And what if I'm like that? What if I turn into some sort of monster? And Tanith already hates me for it, and probably Ghastly too…and if Skulduggery were here, he'd hate me now as well!" Valkyrie was practically choking trying to hold back her tears at this stage, and she didn't think she could keep it up much longer. She turned away, facing the wide expanse of the hurling pitch.

"Tanith doesn't hate you, and neither does Ghastly, and if Skulduggery were here then you wouldn't have had to become a Necromancer in the first place." Fletcher said, Teleporting in front of her. He reached forward then and hugged her, as though that was supposed to make things better.

Valkyrie gave up then, and feeling like a totally pathetic idiot began to cry into Fletcher's shoulder. Fletcher was seriously beginning to regret hugging her- he was wearing one of his favourite t-shirts. And what was he supposed to do with a potentially murderous fourteen-year-old sobbing on his shoulder?

In the end, he decided that his best option was a drastic change of subject.

"So," he said, holding her away from him slightly, "how long have you been playing camogie for?"

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Just for the record, I've never played camogie, or any variant thereof...although I have tried bouncing a hockey ball on a hockey stick. It was _not_ one of my better ideas...Thank y'all for reading, and please do consider reviewing! =P  
A.J.


	5. Chapter 4

Well I finished Dark Days, and...it's _epical_. Anyone else dying for September? Anyway, a huge thanks to _MercyFul Fear_ for the review, and on we trot!

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**Chapter 4.**

Valkyrie paused outside the door, her hand halfway to the knocker. She was reluctant to go in, and was procrastinating as much as she possibly could. It was, at best, unlikely that Tanith would be willing to talk to her, and she didn't want to end up on even worse terms with one of her favourite friends.

Eventually she knocked on the door. Now all she had to do was wait.

The block of flats where Tanith was currently living was among the grimmest in Dublin. The hallway stank of vomit, and there was a suspicious lack of lighting. There was only one window on the entire corridor, and it was so filthy that it may as well not have been there at all. Tanith had only been living here a week, and Valkyrie knew that she was already planning to move to somewhere- _anywhere_- that was even _slightly_ less undesirable.

The door opened, revealing the only slightly better interior of the flat- there was only so much one could do in a week, after all. Valkyrie didn't have time to dwell on Tanith's interior decorating skills though, as Tanith was now standing right in front of her.

"I-" Before Valkyrie had time to finish, or even to begin properly, Tanith stepped forward and hugged her.

"Thank God you're ok Val! I was so worried that something terrible would happen to you, and then it'd be all my fault 'cause I was acting so stupid about you becoming a Necromancer and all. I mean, I know Fletcher said you were ok, but no-one ever really listens to him do they? Tanith drew back and paused for a moment. "So are you really set on becoming a Necromancer then?

"Yeah, I guess…I kinda have to don't I? It's the only way we'll be able to get Skulduggery back." Valkyrie couldn't bring herself to meet Tanith's eyes. Tanith nodded slowly.

"All right. Let's just not think about all that for now, ok?" She said, ending the subject. "Ghastly's coming over soon, so he can tell me who some of those people in the pictures are, and Fletcher said he might come too, so you should definitely stay. And you never know, if we're lucky we might even get some clues about who might've taken Skulduggery's head!" Valkyrie smiled at her friends easy enthusiasm and agreed to stay. She doubted pictures dating back to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries would have any clues, but it should be good craic nonetheless.

She wandered into the grubby apartment after Tanith, and quickly spotted the picture album sitting on an old wooden table in the middle of the room. The table was surrounded by a mismatched array of chairs, one of which Valkyrie promptly sat on to have a look at this picture album.

It was bound in worn green leather, scratched and torn in places. She opened the thick folder-like album, and looked at the first picture. It was an A4-ish sized oil painting. The ancient work of art was at stark odds with the thin plastic pocket which contained it. It was a portrait of a beautiful young woman with dark, curled hair and one of those poofy, over the top dresses that were the height of fashion around three or four hundred years ago. Tanith came over and looked over her shoulder.

"That's China." She said. Valkyrie nodded- she could see the similarities between the China she knew and the girl in the picture.

"Do you many of the people in here?" She asked curiously. Tanith shrugged.

"A few. China's in practically every picture, so she's easy to recognise, but some of them are a lot harder to work out. Ghastly should know them all though, which is why I'm getting him to tell me who they are. Do you want tea?" Tanith asked, walking into the kitchenette. Valkyrie raised her eyebrows at the sudden change of subject.

"Yeah, sure." She said.

"Milk?"

"Please. And three sugars."

Tanith came back out to Valkyrie several minutes later with two steaming cups of tea. Valkyrie was still looking at the first picture in the album, admiring the astonishing amount of detail it contained.

"I would offer you biscuits," Tanith said, handing Valkyrie her tea, "but I don't have any."

"It's grand," Valkyrie said, raising the off-white mug to her mouth, "I'm not really hungry anyway." She then took a mouthful of the tea and promptly burned herself.

The two of them sat in companionable silence for several moments, drinking their tea very slowly in an effort not to burn their mouths (again, in Valkyrie's case).

The doorbell rang then, making Valkyrie jump, and spill tea down her front. Very hot tea. She let out a yelp and quickly began evaporating the liquid. It was so hot that there really wasn't that much for her to do, actually.

Whilst Valkyrie dealt with the drama of the spilt tea, Tanith got up to answer the door.

"Ghastly, come on in, you'll never guess who's here!" Tanith said, ushering the tailor in eagerly.

"Valkyrie!" Ghastly exclaimed, looking taken aback.

Valkyrie scowled at his surprised tone of voice, and then looked at how much tea was left in her mug. Her scowl became a mega-scowl. There wasn't very much tea left.

"Is there any tea left in the pot?" She asked Tanith. "Oh, and hi Ghastly. I've just spilt my tea, and I'm holding you entirely responsible." Ghastly raised his eyebrows, but refrained from commenting on either this or Valkyrie's sudden reappearance.

"Yeah, sure." Tanith said, crossing over to the kitchen. "Want some Ghastly?" Ghastly shrugged.

"Sure. Are these the pictures?" He nodded to the leather-bound album on the table, still open on the first picture. Valkyrie nodded.

"That's China." She said, pointing at the open picture. Ghastly sat himself in the chair beside her to look at it.

"Indeed it is. Actually, I remember that dress..." He trailed off, and Tanith came back with the tea. She pulled up a chair on the other side of Ghastly, and Valkyrie took a grateful gulp of her tea. It wasn't nearly so hot now.

"I think... Christ, I think that's a picture of her on the night of her debut! That picture was painted when she was only sixteen!"

"They had Debs in the sixteen-hundreds?" Valkyrie asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise.

"Well not really. It was more sort of...China's induction to society. Her parents wanted to introduce her to as many eligible young men as possible." Tanith raised her eyebrows.

"They tried to make her marry when she was _sixteen_?" Ghastly shrugged.

"It was part of a ploy to make them seem more like mortals... Or so her parents claimed. I suspect they just wanted to get her off their hands. Anyway, whatever their motives, they succeeded." Tanith and Valkyrie's jaws dropped simultaneously.

"Oh, don't be so surprised! China's parents were rich, she was young, beautiful and exceedingly talented for her age in just about everything. And of course, the poor fellow fell in love with her on first sight."

"Do we know him? More tea anyone?" Tanith asked, reaching out to pour another cup of tea. Ghastly shook his head, then nodded. Then he seemed to realise how confusing that answer was, and spoke instead.

"Yes to the tea, but no, you don't know him. He was a mortal. And he died shortly after their marriage, in a hunting accident."

"How shortly?" Valkyrie asked, whilst nodding to Tanith's offer of more tea.

"Three and a half months." Ghastly said. Valkyrie gasped.

"That's _horrible_! Poor China!"

"Well not really..." Ghastly paused for a moment, looking from Tanith to Valkyrie and back again. "She killed him, see."

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And erm...yeah. It's not a plot-hole. Just an insanely over-thought plot.  
A.J.


	6. Chapter 5

So, yeah, Happy Easter to everyone...and for those who don't celebrate Easter, enjoy the time you get off school for it anyway. And if for some reason you're not getting two weeks off school...well, hate that. Anyway, mega-big thanks to _LythiaHarpen_, _MercyFul Fear_, _RosieLEK_, and _Amara Calla_. All your reviews are really appreciated!

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**Chapter 5.**

Arguably, the fact that the sixteen-year-old China had killed her husband was not surprising at all. It was still pretty freaky though. It definitely gave Valkyrie a newfound respect for China- the sort of respect you got from fear, that is.

"I thought you said it was an accident?" Tanith asked, looking easily as confused as Fletcher did whilst watching Disney cartoons.

"Apparently, a bullet in the back when you're out hunting was considered an accident in the sixteen-hundreds." He took a sip of his tea. "_God_ that's strong Tanith." Tanith scowled at him.

"I _like_ strong tea" She said. "Besides, tea gets stronger when you leave it in the pot. You hardly expected me to get up to make more tea and miss hearing China's dirty secrets?"

"I'd hardly call them secrets." Ghastly said, turning the page of the album. "Ah there we are. China and Diarmuid, on their wedding day."

Valkyrie leaned over and looked at the picture. It seemed to have been even more skilfully painted than the first. China was wearing a ludicrously old fashioned, but exquisitely beautiful white dress. Her hair was pinned up elaborately, and mostly covered with a thick veil. She was standing arm in arm with a much older man, standing stiffly in an elaborate, old fashioned, suity-thing. At the bottom of the picture, in the same place where the artist would normally write their name, but where no name had been written in the first picture, the words _'Lord and Lady Fitzgerald' _were painted, along with what was presumably the date of the wedding.

"Ok, I get why she didn't want to be married to him, but couldn't she have gotten a divorce instead?" Tanith said, frowning at the image of Lord Diarmuid Fitzgerald.

"Under the English common law, a wife was property of her husband and therefore couldn't insinuate a divorce. And China hated being considered the property of anyone, besides which she was very romantic back then, and she couldn't bear the idea of being stuck with anyone she didn't love. Killing him was her only out." Ghastly turned to the next picture in the album, without waiting for a response from either of them, which was probably for the best, as they were both still trying to process the idea of China being romantic.

The next plastic pocket held a picture of China and Mr. Bliss- no great scandalous stories there. China was dressed all in black, and Valkyrie couldn't help but think that she made a prettier widow than bride.

"That was shortly after the funeral." Ghastly said, "Mr. Bliss was by her side constantly for about six months or so after Diarmuid died, to scare off any prospective suitors."

"Suitors?" Valkyrie raised her eyebrows at the outdated word.

"Boyfriends, then." Ghastly said, shrugging. "It would've been bad for the whole family's reputation if she'd dated anyone too soon after her husband's death."

"Can we go onto the next picture?" Tanith asked. "We're supposed to be looking for prospective head-thieves, remember?" She turned the page quickly without waiting for an answer. It was China, wearing a dress covered in symbols, next to a fairly handsome guy who looked about her own age.

"Folracht Bán." Ghastly said, as though that explained everything. Or anything, even.

"Full-rakt Bawn? What's that supposed to mean?" Tanith asked, frowning.

"That was his name. He went out with China for a while, before he was murdered."

"And why'd she kill _him_?" Valkyrie asked, beginning to wonder exactly how many people China had killed in the name of romance.

"No, it wasn't her." Ghastly said, smiling slightly. "Folracht was a supporter of Mevolent, who was killed by anti-Faceless Ones extremists a year or two before the War."

"So he died before Skulduggery then." Tanith said, presumably feeling an overwhelming need to state the obvious. Ghastly nodded, and turned the page without further ado.

"He died before Skulduggery as well." Ghastly said indicating the blond with his arm wrapped round China in the picture.

"Next picture, then." Valkyrie said turning the page.

They went on through a long list of various people China had gone out with at some point or other, all of whom couldn't've stolen Skulduggery's head- they'd all either died before Skulduggery, before he'd come back from the dead, before he'd lost his head, or been on Skulduggery's side the whole time.

Apart from the first picture, this next one was the first solo portrait in the album. It depicted a young man, in his twenties perhaps, although looks could be misleading when it came to age- Tanith was living proof of that...and Ghastly, China, Kenspeckle and just about everyone she knew, come to think of it. He was tall, with frightfully pale skin, dark brown hair and bright green eyes. His hair was messy, but in a natural, gorgeous sort of way as opposed to the meticulously maintained messiness of Fletcher's hair. He wasn't as well dressed as anyone else had been in the album- it was clear that he wasn't as well off as any of China's many and varied 'suitors'. That said though, his clothes _were_ clean and well tailored. There was a sort of mischievous glint in his eyes, and his mouth was on the verge of smirking. He was, without a doubt, better-looking than anyone else in the album, China included. As she stared at the picture, she couldn't help but notice that there was something slightly familiar about the man. Perhaps it was his hair, or his eyes... but she wasn't sure.

Valkyrie tore her eyes away from the picture to look at Tanith and Ghastly. Tanith was staring at the picture, transfixed. Ghastly's mouth had fallen open in something akin to shock. He was staring, goggle-eyed at the picture.

"W-who is it?" Valkyrie said, half-afraid to break the silence which had fallen around them like a thick blanket.

"It's...Skulduggery..." Ghastly said, without tearing his eyes away from the picture.

"Seriously?" Tanith looked up at Ghastly, her eyes wide with shock. Ghastly nodded absently, still staring at the picture of his friend.

Valkyrie looked back at the picture, trying to find something there that she recognised. The problem here being that people don't tend to look like skeletons until long after they're dead. She supposed there was something in the way he carried himself- his bright overconfidence could be seen as clearly as anything else in the picture.

"You started without me?!?" Tanith, Ghastly and Valkyrie did a splendid job of jumping about a foot in the air and looking over their shoulders in perfect unison.

"Fletcher!" Tanith said, pulling another chair closer to the album, "I totally forgot you were coming. We've only just started though, so no worries!" Valkyrie raised her eyebrows at this- they were over halfway through the album now, closer to finishing than starting. Fletcher, meanwhile, ignored the chair that Tanith had pulled over for him, choosing to look over Valkyrie's shoulder instead.

"I see you're back." He murmured, so quietly that the others, who had begun discussing the fashions of bygone eras, couldn't hear.

"Well I was never a fan of those wigs- they were a bit posh for my liking." Ghastly was saying to Tanith, still staring intently at the picture of Skulduggery.

"Well, I guess you convinced me." Valkyrie replied, smiling slightly.

"But I thought _everyone_ wore them." Tanith said, frowning slightly in confusion.

"I'm sure I did. I'm very good at that sort of thing, you know." Fletcher said, smiling cockily.

"Not everyone." Ghastly shook his head slightly. "In fact, hardly anyone wore them in Ireland because most people then were really poor."

"Ha! _Sure_ you are." Valkyrie said, unable to stop herself from smiling back.

"Oh yeah..." Tanith said looking contemplatively into her empty mug. "I'd forgotten that actually."

"How could you..?" Fletcher said, in mock indignation.

"Well, I guess I can understand that. It's not like you had to live through it, after all." It might have been Valkyrie's imagination, but she could've sworn that Ghastly's voice sounded slightly colder than it had mere moments before.

"Easily." Valkyrie grinned and stuck her tongue out at Fletcher.

"You're right. That must've been awful!" Tanith said, trying to get back into Ghastly's good books.

"I'm deeply offended." Fletcher said, but then he smiled, which sort of ruined the effect.

"It was pretty bad all right" Ghastly said, nodding.

"Oh come _on_! There's nothing deep about you except your pockets." Valkyrie said, laughing at how bad he was at pretending to be annoyed.

"I'd imagine." Tanith said, gently swirling her empty cup.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?!?" Fletcher said, playing absently with a strand of Valkyrie's hair.

"The worst was definitely the Famine." Ghastly said thoughtfully.

"Just that you're never short of money. Or above stealing it." Valkyrie said, leaning into him slightly.

"Oh God, yeah." Tanith said, although truth be told she'd no idea how bad the Famine had been.

"That is _so_ not true." Fletcher said actually managing to come off as slightly indignant, for once.

"There was no market for clothes among the mortals, 'cause none of them had money, and with the War going on as well...there was no money, no food, no time, no prospects, and Skulduggery was dead. Not to mention the rumours that the Diablerie had found a way to contact the Faceless Ones. If they had...well, let's just be thankful it's not true." Ghastly sighed and looked briefly into his empty mug before returning to the picture of Skulduggery.

"It totally is, and you know it." Valkyrie said sternly, disentangling his hand from her hair- it was a shamefully long time since she'd brushed it.

"Yes..." Tanith paused, staring into the depths of her empty cup. "You know what? I think it's time I made more tea. I take it you'll all want some?"

"Sure." Ghastly said, with Valkyrie answering in the affirmative a second or so after him.

"What about you Fletcher?" Tanith asked walking over to put the kettle on.

"No thanks." He said, looking over to her "Don't suppose there's any chance of whiskey?"

Valkyrie rolled her eyes and turned to the next picture. But the rest of the plastic pockets were empty.

* * *

Well, thank you all for reading, and thank you more if you decide to be really awesome and review. I like reviews. They're nice.  
A.J.


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